Allonsy!

I want my dialogue to be snappy and fun.

I want great scene descriptions.

I need to convey inner conflict as well as outer conflict.

And I need to do it all with balance.

It’s a tough act to manage.  However, as I was writing a scene I let the dialogue pump out, get the conversation out there.  I did what I was inspired to write.  Without stopping to think that I needed to add dialogue tags or stage directions.

However, afterwards I went through and put in the tags and the scene description and it kind of felt like it was all gelling.  If I had just had one or the other it would have felt lacking but together.  I really like it.

Sometimes this is the way we need to write.

Don’t be afraid to go with what is working for you and go back and add in the bits that will round it out after.  Drafting can be a lopsided practice.  You focus on your strengths and the information that needs to make its way to the page NOW.  But after, you get the opportunity to go in and balance it back out.

Shave off the heavy handed and put in more whimsical.  Add some scene description to go with the dialogue. Add some dialogue to go with the description.

But most off don’t worry about these weaknesses in your draft.  Your first draft is there to get you front point beginning to end.  You wear training wheels and wobble from side to side.  Don’t be afraid of needing the training wheels.  You can take them off later.

However, for this month my primary goal is to write. No blogging till I have written.  Heck I might not even let myself shower in the morning until I write.

For November, I give myself the opportunity to live the life of the writer.  I put writing first.  This is an early Christmas gift to myself.  And I don’t begrudge myself this.  I learn to live with dust bunnies and dirty dishes.  It is strangely elating.

Every year I have walked away from NaNoWriMo having learnt a new writing lesson.

The first year was that I had three different stories I was trying to roll into one.

The second year is that I should have been writing an MG novel instead of YA.

This year – its still up in the air. But mostly I am trying to go with it.  Have fun.  If something isn’t working, I stop taking myself seriously and go with whimsical.  If it feels wondery, that’s fine. I will find an ending later. This year is the year of go with what works and ditch what doesn’t.

And these are just lessons on the drafts themselves.  They aren’t about how I write, or writing as a community, or writing as a lifestyle.  There are so many ways that I learn and grow throughout NaNoWriMo and I hope that I can find the right words to communicate those to you.

But as much as I love playing with words, some concepts are bigger than them.  They are emotional masterpieces that live on in our mind.  That too is why I write.  To try to find a way to capture that rawness, in words. Paint a picture in words.  It’s a high and mighty challenge, one that many endeavor to take up.  I hope that my words are worthy of it.

I sleep in. I read. I knit.  I will walk the dogs. I meditate on random thoughts while walking the dogs. I get blogs set up for the week – if I feel inspired. I write – if the book is calling like a siren.  I cook comfort foods if desired.  I do not entertain unless compelled to. I wear comfy clothes and don’t worry about my hair and makeup. I don’t try to conquer the world and a grand to do list on Sundays.  Sundays are my recess for the week.

I absolutely 100% refuse to feel guilty about this commitment to myself.  Because that is what Sundays is, a date with me, where I court me.

I think sometimes we forget to do this.  To give ourselves a break.  We get so caught up in all of the balls we have up in the air and keeping them all there, that we don’t take the time to maintain our own sanity.

Therefore I give you Sundays.  Make this your day.  The day where you don’t do anything that you don’t want to do.  The day where you don’t feel guilty about that to do list, or the fact that your hair is sticking out in a million different directions.  The day where you cater to yourself.

And if you still have things left on your to do list, leave them.  They can wait another day.  You are not superman, nor should you be trying to live up to those expectations.  You are human.  You need rest and relaxation.  And mostly you need a break from the guilt and stress that we pile on ourselves.  Give yourself a break.  You deserve it.

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Cinder by: Marissa Meyer

Release date: January 3, 2011

 Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (sub group of Macmillan)

 Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

I’m not one normally for fairy tale retellings in book form.  Movie form is another deal altogether, but there was something about this book that screams READ ME!  Also I love a good Cinderella story.  Add cyborgs and SIGNG ME UP!

Book: Bad Taste in Boys

Someone’s been a very bad zombie.

Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe–not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate!

She’s got to find an antidote–before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town. . . and stay hormonally human.

Reaction/Review:

This was a fast paced afternoon read.  Which was exactly what I needed.  Add to that a brainy MC with heart and some truly awkward teen moments and this was an instant win in my books. Did I mention the Zombies? There are Zombies.

Kate Grable (funny last name to be said by Zombies) is a science geek and wannabe doctor. On top of that she is epileptic.  What she wants is to be less geeky, get the guy, and oh stop a zombie apocalypse, also hello Med school.. eventually!

And you know what, she gets all of that.  With a little zombie gnawing action included.

I also thoroughly enjoyed her relationship with her little brother.  You could tell they had the sibling squabbles but also that they genuinely loved each other.  It felt true and fresh.

Final Thoughts:

This book has something to laugh about on every page.   It’s fast paced, action packed, and it has characters with heart.  It takes stereotypes and twists them.  If you are looking for some funny zombie book that has heart, this is your book.

Rating: 8/10

However there are some things that drive me FREAKING crazy in the social networking world.

Twitter faux pas :

If I mention that I have an iPad on twitter, within 20 minutes I have a bot trying to get me to enter into some sort of contest for an iPad 2.  NO THANK YOU! I will automatically report this as spam and block them.   If you want to get in on the conversation make some witty remark.  Don’t link me to whatever crap you are peddling.

The follow and then unfollow to try to get me to follow you.  I will go check out your page if your description looks interesting enough.  If you have actually real content and appear witty and funny I will follow you.  If not, then freaking stop!  Also particularly annoying is when it’s for some company that is no where near where I am.  Block and report as spam.

Facebook faux pas :

I have a day job where people are trying to make the most of social networking to give their business a competitive edge.  What is not okay though is trying to friend me on my personal facebook for work reasons.  I have recently created a work account to solve this problem.

The random I don’t know who the F*socks your are request.  No really.  I know this person and this person on your friends list but we have never actually met.  Can I add you to my collection? Oh and go check out my blog.  I want to write.  No idea what I write though because I can’t be bothered to tell you in this quick spam message to get extra followers.

Goodreads faux pas:

If we do not have any books in common do not try to friend me.  It is not like Pokémon.  You do not get to keep them all.

If you are an author do not try to friend me if your book is not on my TBR shelf.   You might get away with it if your book is like the material on my TBR shelf, but if you see that I primarily like YA and you write historical text books, I can pretty much guarantee I want to kick you in the shins for wasting my time.

General faux pas:

Any time you are a writer wannabe like myself and you get in touch with me (facebook, twitter, email), please for the love of all that is holly, do not just be like oh by the way I want to write go check out my blog.  This is RUDE!  For reals yo.

Clearly state what your intentions are for getting in touch with me.  Also find out why I might be an acceptable match for those intentions.  If I wanted to go checkout your blog, I probably would have found it by now.  Just saying.

And this is my quick and dirty social networking faux pas.  I’m sure there are more out there.  Quick add them to the comments! (all those who spam will receive a time out in the Roo’s Poo emporium)

“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Crossed by: Ally Condy

Publication Date: November 1, 2011

In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky – taken by the Society to his certain death – only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake.

Cassia’s quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander – who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia’s heart – change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Book: 

Synopsis:

Tally has finally become pretty. Now her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are awesome, her boyfriend is totally hot, and she’s completely popular. It’s everything she’s ever wanted.

But beneath all the fun — the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom — is a nagging sense that something’s wrong. Something important. Then a message from Tally’s ugly past arrives. Reading it, Tally remembers what’s wrong with pretty life, and the fun stops cold.

Now she has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life — because the authorities don’t intend to let anyone with this information survive.

Reaction/Review:

Have I said how awesome Scott’s Voice is.  He takes this world and creates an easy to follow yet realistic linguistic style that adds to his world building.  Bubbly!

He can also write one heck of an action scene in his world.

This book brings to the table a somewhat love triangle and an attempt to escape the prison of Prettyville.  Add to that the wrist cuffs and it’s definitely most interesting.

Tally – MC who seams to need a heaping push in order to do anything.

Zane – yummy love interest that is both strong and flawed.

David – yummy underrated love interest that just doesn’t make the cut but also doesn’t come for the girl when he should have.

Shay – best friend who has every right to be pissed at Tally

Peris – previous best friend and potential first book love interest that was never followed up on in favor of pursuing David.  Dropped to a secondary character with no real purpose.

This book still suffers from overwriting in some areas and a middle that sagged. I struggled to get through the last third of this book.  Add to that a weird offshoot at the end with anthropological experiment.  While I did like the inference to Rapunzel, it felt like a clunky odd addition to the novel.

Final Thoughts:

The book ended on another cliff hanger that makes me want to reach for the third book immediately.  However, in trying to keep up with my reading goals for this year, I am going to have to pass on the rest of the series till a later date.  I keep hitting a lag with this series around the middle and can’t pull through it.  It might just be that I am in a reading slump.  I certainly hope that’s the case.

Rating: 7/10

That was me when I was in highschool and even college.

Then sometime after I started paying attention to release dates for anticipated authors I already read.

And a whole tumbleweed storm later I am now on goodreads and on my blog I am  participating in WOW and IMM.

I have over 400 books on my TBR shelf on goodreads.  Participating in IMM this week and seeing how many books people have received I started to feel like maybe I was a slacker.  Like maybe I wasn’t pulling my weight the same way I should be.

But then I started analyzing my time. I read during my lunch breaks and I read before I go to bed. And I read on Sunday Morning to finish whatever book I have been reading that week.

I used to be able to crank out 3 read books a week, but then that was all I was doing with my spare time.  I then dropped down to 1 book a week, and then I got stalled on a book and it took me 3 weeks.  I want to get back up to 2 books a week read.  However, I also want to insure that I have a life too, besides work and reading.

How do you manage your reading time? And how many books to you read a week?